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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Foment


FOMENT', verb transitive [Latin fomento, from foveo, to warm.]

1. To apply warm lotions to; to bathe with warm medicated liquors, or with flannel dipped in warm water.

2. To cherish with heat; to encourage growth. [Not usual.]

3. To encourage; to abet; to cherish and promote by excitements; in a bad sense; as, to foment ill humors.

So we say, to foment troubles or disturbances; to foment intestine broils.